Work Text:
Eri Kisaki knew all too well that Kogoro Mori meant trouble, and as much as she might hate being around him, when her daughter was involved, it was a marginal issue. Ran had told her about this wedding they’d attend, some old acquaintance from college, and since lately murderers seemed to jump out behind any corner wherever he went, Eri decided she better be around too.
After a few calls pulling strings to be the plus one of the guests, she informed her secretary and friend Midori to postpone her appointments for Friday afternoon, and went home after lunch to change. Little Goro meowed at the unexpected visit, happily brushing against her legs, as Eri made her way to her closet. She decided on a simple navy blue suit with a bit of jewelry, some more make up, and done. Her hair she left pinned up in the usual big bun, just checking for any loose strands.
When she arrived at the venue, several other guests were already there, and the room didn’t take long to fill up and swallow her. She avoided her ex, chatted with her daughter, met some people she hadn’t seen in a decade, and unexpectedly also a sort-of undercover inspector Megure. Eri wasn’t very surprised to later find two more familiar faces among the attendees – however, she had not expected one of them to pose as the very bride.
“Ahhh, Sato-keiji looks so pretty, doesn’t she?” Ran swooned.
Eri took in the young, admittedly very attractive police officer in the big white dress, long lace sleeves covering her arms, a skirt big enough to hide a whole arsenal of weapons, and nodded.
“She does look a bit like Tomoko.”
“One day…” Ran sighed.
Eri would guess Sato was in her late twenties, not terribly young to pose in this role, but the whole thing made her think of her own wedding all those years ago. How young and naive she’d been, tying herself to Kogoro out of all people, in a dress quite similar to that one – a patriarchal dream of purity and possession, until death do them part. Sato’s beauty had little to do with it all – she’d probably look good in anything. Her short dark hair was a lovely contrast to all that white, and it looked soft as silk. Her lips were curved in a smile as she spoke to her ‘groom’, her posture straight and confident. The dress fit tightly on her upper body, hugging the soft curves of her-
Eri realized she was staring, and turned her head to the right, where Kogoro was presenting a perfect example of why she should’ve divorced him a long time ago. A hopeless gambler, a drunk, a wanna-be detective ever since he got fired from the police. She could’ve so easily gotten dragged down by his lifestyle, but thank goodness she’d come to her senses in time.
The wedding went on as if it were real, and everything went well, until the ceremony started. Just before the vows, a guy from the audience jumped at the bride with a knife. The whole room held its breath and watched as the police officer and martial arts expert in disguise robbed him of his weapon and threw him on the ground with a few skilled moves. As she kicked him against the head, the floor-length dress flew up, revealing a slim but strong leg and, not that Eri looked much, a ruffled white ribbon around her bare porcelain colored thigh.
Then hell broke lose, and the police ran to arrest to him. Eri stayed in her chair, observing the whole thing - definitely not wondering why they’d bothered to go so far as to add the ribbon, an item invisible to the public eye, to Sato’s bridal costume.
***
With a big sigh, Sato let herself drop in to the nearest chair, and cracked open a can of soda, careful not to spill on the rented dress. She would’ve preferred a beer, but alas, this was still work, and even though the guy was in custody, it wouldn’t be over for quite a while.
For now, she was wide awake with the adrenaline rush of it all, and she smiled to herself. Stunts like this were why she loved her job, and why her mother would definitely throw her hands up in horror at the ‘unfeminine behavior’. One would think that after all those years, she’d get used to it.
With surprise, Sato noticed the epitome of femininity approach and glance over the available drinks, before looking at her. She’d seen the Queen of the Courtroom a few times before, either on cases or in her element in court, and she’d recognize her anywhere. Eri Kisaki was not just beautiful enough to be on the cover of any magazine, she was as smart as they come, and she oozed confidence in each word, each gesture. Sato had heard her colleagues describe her as cold, even icy, but it wasn’t true, at least not now, as the elegant woman gave her a gentle smile.
“Well,“ Eri said, “that’s not a bride like you see them every day.”
Sato returned the soft smile, her shoulders lifting slightly in a shrug. “This is as close as I’ll ever get to being one, I guess. Might as well have some fun.” At Eri’s tilted head, she added, “You know what they say about single women once they pass 27.”
“Nonsense.”
Eri shook her head and Sato couldn’t help but notice the way the little strands of hair above her ears flew in unison with the shiny silver earrings, the way the bright light of the venue reflected in her glasses. Leave it to Eri Kisaki to make her feel underdressed in a wedding dress that probably cost several months of her salary.
“You can get married at any age. It’s never too late, rather often it happens too early.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Sato replied, pointing at the golden ring on the lawyer’s finger.
To her surprise, Eri laughed. A wonderful sound.
“I only wear this to fend off men. Technically, I’m still married, but we’ve been separated for years.”
“Well, with your looks, it doesn’t surprise me that you need this sort of defense.”
The words had escaped Sato’s big mouth before her brain had a chance to intervene, and for a second she feared she had overdone it. But as she observed the expression of Eri’s face, she detected a slight blush on those sharp cheeks.
“You seem to have gotten yourself a candidate there, too.”
Sato followed Eri’s nod to her colleague Takagi.
“Him? Oh please, he wouldn’t make a move if you paid him for it. And not to brag, but if I did want candidates, I could have my pick from half the police force. It’s like they’ve never been around a woman before.”
“I get that,” Eri said, “The law is also still very much a man’s world. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve had to hear…”
“Oh I would. By now, my mother would be delighted if I picked any of those, no matter who. But…” Sato hesitated, looking to the side. “I guess I’m just not made for marriage.”
After a few seconds, she looked back up at the woman in front of her, wondering if she’d catch on. Dropping subtle hints always felt like dropping bombs, never knowing if they might go off and hurt you.
“I’m not either,” Eri replied, a soft smile on her red lips. “I just noticed too late.”
Sato could feel her own expression soften, too, with relief and hope. She put aside the half-empty can of soda, gaining another second to try and find the right words. But her boss robbed her of the chance, calling from across the room and demanding she come with the rest of the team to headquarters. She got up.
“Duty calls. I’m sorry.”
“Please, don’t let me keep you.”
Sato was already turning around, when a warm hand on her upper arm stopped her, and she looked back into those big blue eyes.
“I think your colleagues got my contact details, but just in case…”
Two beautifully manicured hands presented her an elaborate business card, and Sato bowed in response as she accepted it.
“Thank you, Kisaki-sensei. I’m afraid I don’t have any cards on me, but I’ll gladly make up for it next time and give you mine in return.”
“Sato, what are you doing? Come on!” Megure’s voice made Sato flinch, and she quickly bowed again before leaving Eri behind to join her coworkers.
With the long wide skirt brushing everything and everyone in her way, she crossed the room, the business card safely in her hand due to the appalling lack of pockets in this outfit. Sato knew very well why she didn’t wear dresses like this, and instead stuck to pants or pencil skirts. Just getting in the car was a bother, and the further she got away from the wedding room, the more ridiculous it felt. Yet she marched through the corridors of the police station with her head held high, ignoring the wide-eyed stares and snapping right back at any comment with a witty reply.
While the others prepared the aggressor for the official interrogation, Sato went to the locker room. It didn’t take her too long to change into her spare set of work clothes, once she managed to get out of the dress, and the everyday shirt and blazer combo felt much more comfortable.
Over the next several hours, she sat at her desk, writing reports, compiling evidence and adding all of the newest information to the case files. Megure was leading the interrogation, so it was mostly she and Takagi, as usual. He was a quiet, pleasant coworker, easy to please and very diligent. If only he’d stop the heart eyes every time he thought she wasn’t looking. It was no secret to anyone in the department that he was smitten with her, practically had been since day one, but at least he kept it to himself, and didn’t bother her, unlike others… Sometimes Sato guilted herself into thinking she should give him a chance, especially after one of her mother’s long sermons, or a particularly awful arranged date. Maybe it would work out, and the world would finally leave her alone.
But then she kept on thinking, about all the things that dating and marriage would entail, and she ended up shaking her head. Yes, Takagi was so much nicer than many of the men she knew, and the ones her mother forced her to see, but the thought of being intimate with him made something inside her freeze like a glacier. Heck, even the thought of kissing him for anything else than an undercover police operation made her want to go “eewww”. Something inside her revolted against the very thing everyone told her she should be yearning for.
Yet it wasn’t like Sato was dead inside. She did yearn, she did have feelings. She remembered that pair of full lips, painted a lovely shade of red, reminding her of the best cherries at the end of summer. She couldn’t help but wonder how they would feel against her own, against the tips of her fingers, against her skin… How soft they’d be, warm and sweet and-
“Sato, the observation file please?”
Takagi’s voice brought her back to the present. He sounded a bit annoyed, as if he’d asked several times already.
“Sorry, here you go.”
“What are you thinking about?”
Ugh, Sato groaned internally, as she smiled politely at her colleague across the desk.
“Oh, nothing in particular. It’s been a long day.”
Takagi nodded, and went back to his report.
Sato had never told anyone about these feelings she experienced towards other women, and even though she and Takagi got along very well, a coworker was the last person she’d tell. You minded your own business, especially at work, and kept anything that deviated from the norm to yourself. Don’t bother others. Don’t be a nuisance, don’t make trouble, don’t be different.
Sato was a good cop and reasonably good-looking, so many of her male colleagues considered it a challenge that she was single, trying to set her up or go out with her herself. She despised being considered a beautiful thing meant to be owned by a man, as if she were a painted scroll to hang up on a wall and be stared at. Still, she guessed it was better than being ostracized and bullied. The stigma would probably be huge, especially in the police force. People in more modern work spaces had been ‘forced to quit’ over it. There really should be a law against that, Sato thought, and again the queen of the courtroom appeared in her mind. Had she ever worked such a case? She’d dealt with her fair share of divorce cases, the issue would’ve been bound to come up sometime...
Sato managed to pull herself together for a few more hours and finish as much of the paperwork as possible. When she could finally go home, she grabbed her bag and looking for her car keys, her hand found something else in the pocket of her blazer. Sato contemplated the little piece of paper, the elegant font and the subdued, classy colors, and with a little smile, she saved the mobile number in her contacts.
As she went to the garage, trying to remember where she’d parked more twelve hours ago, she was tempted to call her right away. A look at her phone told her it was just after ten. Friday night was a good time for a little after-work drink, right?